TMP F52

VOLUME 46 JOURNAL OF APPLIED METEOROLOGY AND CLIMATOLOGY AUGUST 2007
Event-Based Climatology and Typology of Fog in the New York City Region
ROBERT TARDIF
Research Applications Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research,* and Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic
Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado
ROY M. RASMUSSEN
Research Applications Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research,* Boulder, Colorado
(Manuscript received 6 March 2006, in final form 3 November 2006)
ABSTRACT
The character of fog in a region centered on New York City, New York, is investigated using 20 yr of
historical data. Hourly surface observations are used to identify fog events at 17 locations under the
influence of various physiographic features, such as land–water contrasts, land surface character (urban,
suburban, and rural), and terrain. Fog events at each location are classified by fog types using an objective
algorithm derived after extensive examination of fog formation processes. Events are characterized accord-
ing to frequency, duration, and intensity. A quantitative assessment of the likelihood with which mecha-
nisms leading to fog formation are occurring in various parts of the region is obtained. The spatial, seasonal,
and diurnal variability of fog occurrences are examined and results are related to regional and local
influences. The results show that the likelihood of fog occurrence is influenced negatively by the presence
of the urban heat island of New York City, whereas it is enhanced at locations under the direct influence
of the marine environment. Inland suburban and rural locations also experience a considerable amount of
fog. As in other areas throughout the world, the overall fog phenomenon is a superposition of various types.
Precipitation fog, which occurs predominantly in winter, is the most common type. Fog resulting from
cloud-base lowering also occurs frequently across the region, with an enhanced likelihood in winter and
spring. A considerable number of advection fog events occur in coastal areas, mostly during spring, whereas
radiation fog occurs predominantly at suburban and rural locations during late summer and early autumn
but also occurs during the warm season in the coastal plain of New Jersey as advection–radiation events.
1. Introduction duce the number of weather delays by 20%–35%. On a

national scale, such reductions could save between $500
Poor visibility associated with the presence of fog
and $875 million annually. The study by Wilson and
represents a hazard to aviation, marine, and road trans-
Clark (1997) shows daily cost benefits of $100,000–
portation worldwide (Croft 2003). Because of safety
$1,000,000 associated with accurate forecasts of onset
concerns, fog occurrences are associated with disrup-
and dissipation of stratus clouds and fog. Allan et al.
tions in air traffic at airports and navigation in marine
(2001) found that timely forecasts of changes in ceiling
ports. Unforeseen reductions in airport capacity asso-
or visibility could lead to savings of $500,000 per event
ciated with reduced ceiling and visibility lead to signifi-
at the busy air terminals in the New York City (NYC),
cant cost increments to the large air carriers. Valdez
New York, area. For the general aviation community,
(2000) concluded that more accurate forecasts of cloud
fog is a major safety concern because accidents often
ceiling or visibility with a 30-min lead time would re-
occur in reduced visibility conditions (Whiffen 2001).
Fog also contributes to creating hazardous conditions
* The National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored on the roads, as evidenced by the numerous multive-
by the National Science Foundation. hicle accidents occurring each year under poor visibility
conditions (Whiffen et al. 2003). These are exacerbated
Corresponding author address: Robert Tardif, National Center in complex urban environments.
for Atmospheric Research, Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80301. Advances in the understanding of the physics of fog
E-mail: tardif@ucar.edu have been made through numerous field experiments
DOI: 10.1175/JAM2516.1
© 2007 American Meteorological Society 1141
JAM2516
1142 JOURNAL OF APPLIED METEOROLOGY AND CLIMATOLOGY VOLUME 46
(Taylor 1917; Roach et al. 1976; Choularton et al. 1981; general indication of the geographical distribution of
Meyer et al. 1986; Findlater et al. 1989; Fitzjarrald and dominant fog types (Willett 1944; Byers 1959; Petters-
Lala 1989; Duynkerke 1991; Fuzzi et al. 1998) and mod- sen 1969). These studies do not provide a level of detail
eling studies (Lala et al. 1975; Turton and Brown 1987; sufficient enough to identify either the mechanisms in-
Ballard et al. 1991; Bott 1991; Golding 1993; Bergot and fluencing the formation of all forms of fog or their
Guédalia 1994; Teixeira 1999; Nakanishi 2000; space–time variability at the regional scale.
Pagowski et al. 2004; Koračin et al. 2005; Thompson et The goals of the work presented herein are the iden-
al. 2005). Most of these studies focused on a single type tification and classification of fog events into specific
of fog, either radiation or sea (advection) fog. There- types that reflect the primary mechanism responsible
fore, a complete understanding of the processes influ- for their formation in the complex environment of the
encing the life cycle of fog in its numerous forms re- NYC region.1 The characterization of the spatial and
mains elusive. This is particularly true for fog occurring temporal variability of fog is also an objective. This
in areas characterized by a complex environment. One approach is deemed more insightful than general sta-
such region is the West Coast of the United States, tion climatologies because it provides specific informa-
where sea fog has been studied extensively [see Leipper tion about the distribution (spatial and temporal) of
(1994) and listed references therein, as well as the more fog-forming mechanisms. The approach provides an al-
recent work of Koračin et al. (2001), Lewis et al. (2003), ternative to the synoptic classification approach (e.g.,
Koračin et al. (2005), and Thompson et al. (2005)]. The Croft and Burton 2006) by focusing on the local-scale
complex coastline and topography, variations in land aspects of fog formation rather than on large-scale
surface characteristics, and high levels of pollution weather patterns. The characterization of the associ-
provide a wide range of influences that can potentially ated large-scale weather patterns and other influences
affect the dynamical behavior (Fitzjarrald and Lala follows naturally once specific fog types have been
1989; Sachweh and Koepke 1997) and microphysical identified, as shown by Meyer and Lala (1990). The
characteristics of fog (Goodman 1977; Hudson 1980; analysis of large-scale weather patterns and other envi-
Bott 1991). [See also the online University Corporation ronmental conditions associated with fog events for
for Atmospheric Research/Cooperative Program for each fog type will be the subject of future efforts.
Operational Meteorology, Education and Training Section 2 presents the dataset used in this study and
(UCAR/COMET) modules for comprehensive discus- the various analysis procedures used to identify and
sions on factors affecting fog (http://www.meted.ucar. characterize fog events. The overall character of fog is
edu/topics_fog.php).] described in section 3, and section 4 contains an analy-
The NYC region, located on the eastern seaboard of sis of the character of the various fog types. A discus-
the United States, is another fog-prone coastal region sion is presented in section 5, and conclusions are out-
with similar physiographic complexities (complex lined in section 6.
coastline; presence of urban, suburban, and rural areas;
valleys; and rivers and lakes) and with significant vari- 2. Dataset and analysis procedure
ability in aerosols (Ito et al. 2004). However, fog in that
part of the United States has not been studied as ex-
a. Datasets
tensively as on the West Coast. George (1940) per- The main surface data used in this study are from the
formed pioneering work on the identification of fog-in- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
ducing mechanisms and associated weather regimes for Techniques Development Laboratory Surface Hourly
several locations in the eastern and southern United Observations dataset (National Center for Atmo-
States, with one location in the general vicinity of NYC. spheric Research 2006). These are complemented by
Fitzjarrald and Lala (1989) and Meyer and Lala (1990) data from a buoy located south of Long Island to char-
studied boundary layer mechanisms and climatological acterize offshore conditions during specific fog events.
parameters associated with radiation fog for a location Hourly land surface observations of visibility, tempera-
in the Hudson Valley, north of NYC. More recently, ture, dewpoint temperature, wind speed and direction,
Croft and Burton (2006) examined the relationship be- ceiling height, cloud cover, coded obstruction to vision,
tween the extent of fog and the various synoptic and precipitation type and intensity, covering the pe-
weather patterns during a single winter season in the
northern mid-Atlantic part of the United States. Other 1
This work is in support of a project funded by the Federal
studies provide general annual (Peace 1969) and Aviation Administration focused on the improvement of forecasts
monthly (Hardwick 1973) fog frequencies at the na- of low cloud ceiling and reduced visibility (fog) occurrences at
tional scale, while others have attempted to provide a New York City’s airports.
AUGUST 2007 TARDIF AND RASMUSSEN 1143
FIG. 1. Map showing the land use of a region centered on New York City, as well as the locations of the 17 land surface stations
and the buoy (44025) used in this study.
riod from 1977 to 1996, are used to identify and char- Stations were selected such that the main physi-
acterize fog events. This dataset contains data from a ographic characteristics of a region centered on NYC
period of homogeneous reporting practices, before the are represented. Figure 1 shows a map of surface
introduction of automated weather stations. characteristics (land use) and the location of the sta-
TABLE 1. List of stations, their position, elevation, and physiographic character; and data availability for the 1977–96 study period.
Station code Station name Lat (°) Lon (°) Elev (m) Station character Data availability (%)
EWR Newark, NJ 40.68N 74.17W 7 Urban–coastal 91.7
JFK John F. Kennedy Airport, NY 40.65N 73.78W 9 Urban–coastal 94.2
LGA LaGuardia Airport, NY 40.77N 73.88W 11 Urban–coastal 92.2
ISP Islip/MacArthur Airport, NY 40.78N 73.10W 43 Suburban–coastal 93.3
TEB Teterboro, NJ 40.85N 74.00W 7 Urban–inland 90.2
HPN White Plains, NY 41.07N 73.70W 121 Rural–coastal 89.3
POU Poughkeepsie, NY 41.63N 73.80W 46 Rural–inland 92.2
BDR Bridgeport, CT 41.17N 73.10W 7 Suburban–coastal 71.8
BDL Hartford, CT 41.93N 72.60W 60 Rural–inland 92.7
PVD Providence, RI 41.73N 71.40W 16 Urban–coastal 93.2
ABE Allentown, PA 40.65N 75.40W 114 Suburban–inland 93.5
WRI McGuire AFB, NJ 40.02N 74.60W 41 Rural–inland 91.4
PNE North Philadelphia, PA 40.08N 75.00W 28 Suburban–inland 86.5
PHL Philadelphia, PA 39.88N 75.20W 18 Urban–inland 93.4
ACY Atlantic City, NJ 39.45N 74.50W 23 Suburban–coastal 93.5
MIV Millville, NJ 39.37N 75.00W 23 Rural–coastal 91.2
ILG Wilmington, DE 39.67N 75.60W 28 Suburban–inland 93.7
tions. Table 1 provides information about each station’s height, such as the Palisades east of TEB and the
position, elevation, and physiographic character, which Watchung Mountains to the west of EWR. Other sta-
is defined by the proximity to coastlines (coastal or tions are located on the flat terrain of the Atlantic
inland) and the density of buildings in the vicinity coastal plain.
(urban, suburban, or rural). Coastal stations are lo- Stations reporting during the whole diurnal cycle and
cated within 20 km of the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island with a high ratio of valid visibility observations to the
Sound, Raritan Bay, Narragansett Bay, or Delaware maximum possible number of hourly observations
Bay. Distances between inland stations and coastlines were retained. Only stations with 90% or more valid
range from approximately 30 (TEB from the Long Is- observations were kept for the analysis, with the ex-
land Sound and Raritan Bay) to roughly 140 (ABE ception of BDR, which had about 72% data avail-
from the New Jersey shoreline) km. Other inland sta- ability. Because missing records occurred randomly in
tions are located 70–80 km away from the coast. Urban time (seasonally and diurnally) at this station, it was
stations are found in high-density residential, commer- retained in order to have a location representing the
cial, or industrial areas, while suburban stations are lo- marine environment on the northern coast of the Long
cated in low-density residential areas. Stations in re- Island Sound. Other stations located along the Long
mote areas away from major urban centers are labeled Island Sound did not have sufficient annual coverage
as rural. during the 1977–96 period to be included in the analy-
Most stations are located on locally flat terrain with sis. This selection criterion is used to ensure adequate
elevations within 50 m of sea level (Table 1). Never- temporal coverage needed for the reliable identifica-
theless, stations are found in areas with diverse topo- tion of fog events. Because in many cases fog is a noc-
graphical features. Stations are found in valleys such turnal phenomenon, stations that only reported day-
as the Hudson Valley (POU), Connecticut River Val- time observations were inadequate. The limited num-
ley (BDL), and Lehigh Valley (ABE) (Fig. 2). Coastal ber of remaining stations results in some gaps in the
areas in the extreme southern portion of New York dataset’s spatial coverage and a possible lack of repre-
and Connecticut are characterized by terrain slightly sentation of other geophysical influences, such as the
sloping upward away from the coast with an eleva- possible enhanced nocturnal cooling associated with
tion increase of about 10 m km⫺1. The highest station the sandy soil of the Pine Barrens found in southern
in the region (HPN) is therefore under the influence and central New Jersey as well as in eastern Long Is-
of a slight upslope flow during onshore wind condi- land. Nevertheless, the diversity of the physiographic
tions. Stations are also found in the coastal plain of character of the stations provides a representation of
southern New Jersey (MIV, ACY, and WRI) and in the most of the influences believed to affect fog occur-
plain along the Delaware River (ILG, PHL, and PNE). rences in the region, such as land–sea contrasts, land
EWR and TEB are located on flat land with nearby surface variability (urban, suburban, and rural areas),
sharp topographical features approximately 150 m in and topography.
FIG. 2. Shaded relief map of the region centered on New York City, showing the locations of the 17 land surface stations and
noteworthy physiographic features.
b. Analysis procedure Croft et al. (1997) set a defining threshold of 800 m (1⁄2
mi.). Cho et al. (2000) used the international definition
1) IDENTIFICATION OF FOG EVENTS
in their study, while Croft and Burton (2006) used Na-
The international definition of fog is an observed tional Weather Service climate summaries to identify
horizontal visibility below 1 km (5/8 mi.) in the pres- days during which fog was observed, regardless of its
ence of suspended water droplets and/or ice crystals intensity (visibility reduction) and duration.
(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fog occurrences are defined here by using the vis-
1995). However, authors have used various definitions ibility threshold corresponding to the Low Instrument
depending on the focus of their studies. Heavy fog con- Flight Rules (LIFR) used in the United States (Na-
ditions with visibilities reduced to a few hundred meters tional Weather Service 2004). The presence of fog is
or less are a hazard for motorists on the roads, while defined as an observed visibility of less than 1.6 km (1
aviation safety is impacted by less severe reductions in statute mile) with fog, ground fog, or ice fog reported
visibility. A threshold of 400 m was used by Peace concurrently. The study is therefore consistent with the
(1969), Hardwick (1973), Meyer and Lala (1990), and concerns of aviation forecasters who are tasked with
Westcott (2004). Friedlein (2004) defined dense fog as forecasting LIFR conditions, and those of general avia-
a visibility equal to or below 500 m (5⁄16 mi.), while tion pilots who are concerned with avoiding such con-
FIG. 3. Diagram illustrating the definitions and concepts used in the identification of fog
events in time series of hourly observations of visibility. Examples of fictitious fog events (first
eight examples) as well as cases not qualifying as events (last two examples) are shown in the
lower part of the diagram.
ditions. The concept of fog events at individual stations, negative construct. An additional requirement that one
defined as well-defined sequences characterized by the report of dense fog (visibility of less than 1 km) must be
presence of fog, is also used. The concept of positive present in an event is used to provide consistency with
“M-of-N ” constructs (Setiono et al. 2005) is used to the international definition. The methodology used in
identify events, with M representing the number of identifying events is summarized in Fig. 3, and ex-
hours with fog within a number of N consecutive hourly amples are provided. After a careful inspection of a
observations. A negative construct is defined as a se- large number of observations, values of M ⫽ 3 and N ⫽
quence of N consecutive hourly observations with less 5 were chosen to define a positive construct. These val-
than M hours with fog. An event begins with the first ues were chosen to capture well-defined sequences of
fog occurrence within a positive construct, and lasts fog and eliminate isolated fog occurrences from the
until the first report of the absence of fog part of a analysis. By restricting the analysis to such sequences,
factors influencing the life cycle of fog can be identified observations of visibility, temperature, wind, precipita-
with greater confidence as longer-lived conditions are tion, cloud cover, and ceiling height. It assigns a type of
adequately sampled given the resolution of the obser- fog for each event identified at individual stations using
vational dataset. Adequate sampling and identification a series of decision nodes designed to identify the pri-
of short-term micrometeorological fluctuations are not mary mechanism responsible for fog formation. The
achievable with hourly surface observations. Although physical reasoning used to establish the classification of
isolated fog occurrences, mostly accompanied by sur- events is summarized in Table 2, while the algorithm’s
rounding missing data, are eliminated from the subse- decision process is illustrated with a flowchart in Fig. 4.2
quent analysis, 76% of all fog reports are found within As in Baars et al. (2003), a number of fog events were
the identified events. A closer examination of the iso- randomly selected (representing about 10% of the total
lated occurrences did not reveal a preference with re- number of events) and an independent subjective as-
spect to location and season. However, a preference sessment of the fog type was performed. Associated
with respect to the time of day was detected. The im- rules and thresholds were derived based on the evolu-
plications will be discussed in section 4. tion of observations during the 5 h prior to onset. The
wind speed threshold used to identify radiation fog
2) FOG-TYPE CLASSIFICATION: PRIMARY FOG
events has been chosen based on information found in
MECHANISMS
Taylor (1917) and Meyer and Lala (1990). Typical sce-
A comprehensive fog-type classification, established narios of observed surface observations associated with
by Willett (1928) and later modified by Byers (1959), is each fog type are shown in Fig. 5.
composed of 11 fog types based on formation mecha- A precipitation fog event is illustrated in Fig. 5a.
nisms and weather scenarios often associated with fog. Overcast conditions were observed at HPN during sev-
Citing practical issues, George (1951) proposed a sim- eral hours with obscured conditions in fog reported fol-
pler classification of six types. Following George’s con- lowing a lowering of the cloud base as light rain per-
cerns and recognizing that the use of hourly surface sisted. Given that the lowering of the cloud base and
observations imposes inherent limitations on the so- the decrease in visibility occurred as precipitation was
phistication of the identification of fog types, the clas- falling, and cooling of the moistened air did not occur,
sification used herein relies on broadly defined types. the reasoning is that the evaporation of precipitation
The manual inspection of a considerable number of played a central role in the formation of fog. A radia-
observations led to the identification of the following tion fog event is presented in Fig. 5b. A typical evening
five distinct types: precipitation fog, radiation fog, ad- transition of the boundary layer occurred under mostly
vection fog, fog resulting from the lowering of cloud clear skies at WRI during the evening of 29 September
base, and morning evaporation fog. Some of these types 1990. A rapid decrease in the near-surface temperature
are part of George’s classification (radiation and advec- was followed by a slower cooling rate. Wind speeds at
tion). In contrast to George’s classification, advection– or below 2 m s⫺1 were observed throughout the night.
radiation fogs are included in the radiation category Visibility gradually decreased during the cooling pe-
and no distinction is made between restricted heating riod, leading to obscured conditions in fog at 0600 UTC
and air drainage fogs as radiation fog types. Also, the 30 September. Figure 5c illustrates conditions associ-
precipitation fog category is a generalization of ated with an advection fog event. A sudden decrease in
George’s frontal fog types. The other two types consid- visibility and appearance of a low ceiling occurred at
ered here are not part of traditional classifications. JFK on 14 May 1992. Visibility dropped sharply from
However, occurrences of fog resulting from the lower- 14 to 0.8 km as a broken cloud cover appeared below
ing of cloud bases have long been recognized by re- 100 m. This transition took place as the wind shifted
searchers and operational forecasters (Petterssen 1940; from a westerly to southerly flow with speeds around
Peak and Tag 1989; Baker et al. 2002). Morning evapo- 3 m s⫺1. These conditions are indicative of a fog layer
ration fogs are not commonly discussed in the litera- being advected inland from the coastal ocean. A typical
ture, but are included to represent a distinct scenario cloud-base-lowering scenario is illustrated using obser-
identified during the inspection of observations. vations from MIV on 20 and 21 April 1992 (Fig. 5d). A
Several factors may be responsible for fog formation. period of gradual cloud-base lowering took place over a
Advection of temperature and/or moisture can play a
role in the formation of radiation fog, and radiative 2
Fog events that do not meet the criteria used to classify events
cooling may be a factor in the formation of other fog into the five types, or those for which a condition of insufficient
types. A classification algorithm based on simple con- valid data characterizes the few hours prior to fog onset, are clas-
ceptual models of fog formation is applied to surface sified as unknown.
TABLE 2. List of fog types used in the classification algorithm and associated primary mechanisms, as well as definitions based on
the morphology of fog formation.
Primary physical Definition/morphology

Fog type mechanism of fog formation References
Precipitation (PCP) Thermodynamical Precipitation observed at the onset of fog Petterssen (1969)
influence of evaporating or the hour prior
precipitation
Radiation (RAD) Radiative cooling over Onset during the night with an observed Taylor (1917), Pilié et al.
land wind speed below 2.5 m s⫺1 and cooling (1975), Roach et al. (1976),
during the hour prior in absence of a Roach (1995a), Meyer et al.
cloud ceiling, or with a cloud base rising (1986), Meyer and Lala
concurrently or slight warming in the (1990), Baker et al. (2002)
hour leading to onset if preceded by
cooling period (e.g., fog forming between
two hourly observations) or cloud ceiling
below 100 m if followed shortly by fog at
surface (e.g., elevated fog formation)
Advection (ADV) Shear-induced mixing of Onset as a “wall” of fog reaches a station, Roach (1995b), Baars et al.
air parcels of contrasting with an observed wind speed greater (2003)
temperatures as moist, than 2.5 m s⫺1 and an associated sudden
warm air flows over a decrease in visibility or sudden
colder (water, land, or appearance of a cloud ceiling below 200
snow) surface m, followed by fog onset within next 2 h
Cloud-base lowering Moistening and/or cooling Gradual lowering of a cloud ceiling within Petterssen (1940), Oliver et al.
(CBL) of the layer below a 5-h period prior to fog onset, with (1978), Pilié et al. (1979),
boundary layer initial ceiling height below 1 km Duynkerke and Hignett
stratiform clouds and/or (1993), Koračin et al.
prolonged subsidence (2001), Baker et al. (2002)
Morning evaporation Evaporation of surface Increasing temperature and greater increase Arya (2001), Brutsaert
(EVP) water and mixing in the in dewpoint leading to saturation, within (1982)*
surface layer 1 h of sunrise
* These references do not specifically discuss the formation of fog under the influence of evaporation at sunrise, but rather present
comprehensive discussions on the evaporation of water at the earth’s surface.
few hours leading to fog conditions at the surface at events, as well as the seasonal and diurnal distributions
0100 UTC 21 April. The cloud-base lowering occurred of fog onset and dissipation frequencies. The monthly/
in the absence of precipitation as gradual cooling of the diurnal frequency is calculated as
near-surface temperature took place. Observations at
WRI on 14 September 1989 are used to illustrate an Fm,h ⫽ 100共Nm,h ⲐNtot兲, 共1兲
event of morning evaporation fog (Fig. 5e). Cooling of
where Fm,h is the frequency of events beginning (onset)
the near-surface temperature occurred during the pre-
or ending (dissipation) at hour h during month m, Nm, h
ceding night under varying cloudiness and light wind
is the number of events that began at hour h in month
speeds (⬍2 m s⫺1). The visibility remained constant at
m, and Ntot is the total number of events. The monthly
11 km until the latter part of the night, when it de-
frequency is then the sum
creased to values in the 4–5 km range as near-saturated
conditions were reached. Visibility dropped to 100 m
while temperature warmed by 0.6°C and the dewpoint
Fm ⫽ 兺F
h
m,h , 共2兲
increased by 1.1°C shortly after sunrise. As this oc-
curred under calm wind conditions, the increase in hu- and the hourly frequency is simply
兺F
midity could not have been the result of advection, but
rather the result of evaporation of surface water as the Fh ⫽ m,h . 共3兲
m
incoming solar radiation provided the necessary energy.
3) FREQUENCY COMPUTATION 3. General character of fog

The character of each fog type is examined by deter- The character of fog is first investigated by examining
mining the spatial distribution of the frequency of fog both the number of hours and days per year during
FIG. 4. Flowchart diagram illustrating the fog-type classification algorithm.
which fog conditions defined with various visibility heavy (visibility ⬍400 m) fog is used. A considerable
thresholds were observed (Table 3), as well as the num- spatial variability is observed in the number of fog
ber of events that occurred (Fig. 6). The terminology of hours and days regardless of fog intensity, as well as in
light (visibility ⬍1.6 km), dense (visibility ⬍1 km), and the number of events. This consistency between fog
1150
JOURNAL OF APPLIED METEOROLOGY AND CLIMATOLOGY
FIG. 5. Example of surface observations associated with (a) a precipitation fog event. Observations were taken at the White Plains airport (HPN) from 1800 UTC 21 Dec to 1800
UTC 22 Dec 1984. (top to bottom) Cloudiness (codes in the upper portion of the top figure) and ceiling heights are represented; visibility and precipitation codes are shown, followed
by temperature (solid line) and dewpoint temperature (dashed line), mean sea level pressure, wind speed, and wind direction. The fog period is highlighted with a gray bar in the second
panel. (b) Same as (a), but for a radiation fog event that took place at WRI on 29 Sep 1990. (c) Same as (a), but for an advection fog event at JFK on 14 May 1992. (d) Same as (a),
but for a cloud-base-lowering fog event at MIV on 21 Apr 1992. (e) Same as (a), but for a morning evaporation fog event at WRI observed on 14 Sep 1989. The arrow in (e) indicates
the time of sunrise.
VOLUME 46
FIG. 5. (Continued)
FIG. 5. (Continued)
hours and events is not surprising because 76% and related thermal circulations (Sachweh and Koepke
78% of fog (light and heavy, respectively) hours are 1995, 1997; LaDochy 2005). The presence of an UHI in
found within fog events. Overall, coastal suburban and the New York area is well documented. Bornstein
rural locations experience the most fog, followed by the (1968) observed near-surface temperature differences
inland rural and suburban stations. Fog is least frequent of up to 4°C between the urban core of NYC and its
at urban sites. adjacent rural areas at sunrise. Gedzelman et al. (2003)
More specifically, locations in the urban core of have shown patterns with the warmest nocturnal tem-
NYC (EWR, TEB, and LGA) rank in the bottom tier peratures in the most urbanized areas of NYC and
with respect to the number of fog hours, days, and Philadelphia, which correspond well with the minima in
events. Also, 20% fewer events were identified at the number of fog hours, days, and events documented
the more urbanized location of PHL relative to nearby in this study.
suburban PNE. This suggests the urban heat island On the other hand, the HPN and MIV coastal sta-
(UHI) of NYC and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has a tions stand out as positive anomalies among stations.
role in decreasing the likelihood of fog. Previous stud- HPN experiences more than double the number of fog
ies have identified an urban–rural variability in fog hours, days, and events relative to the respective re-
(Lee 1987; Bendix 1994) as the result of temperature gional averages over the 17 stations, while MIV has
and humidity contrasts associated with the UHI and 60% more fog hours and days than the averages thereof
TABLE 3. Number of fog hours and fog days (number in parentheses) per year for fog of various intensities,
over the 1977–96 dataset.
Light fog h (days) Dense fog h (days) Heavy fog h (days)

Station code (visibility ⬍1.6 km) (visibility ⬍1.0 km) (visibility ⬍0.4 km)
EWR 69 (21) 46 (15) 9 (4)
JFK 176 (41) 149 (37) 51 (16)
LGA 92 (25) 68 (19) 18 (6)
ISP 242 (56) 200 (48) 79 (25)
TEB 79 (26) 47 (17) 12 (5)
HPN 463 (74) 274 (59) 132 (34)
POU 123 (37) 101 (33) 27 (11)
BDR 141 (38) 116 (31) 51 (17)
BDL 156 (41) 114 (32) 37 (13)
PVD 156 (42) 113 (33) 29 (10)
ABE 161 (39) 126 (32) 40 (11)
WRI 208 (53) 149 (39) 60 (18)
PNE 132 (38) 98 (29) 35 (12)
PHL 94 (27) 69 (21) 26 (9)
ACY 226 (53) 192 (47) 75 (22)
MIV 279 (70) 204 (55) 68 (22)
ILG 155 (41) 114 (31) 40 (14)
Average 174 (42) 128 (34) 46 (15)
(Table 3). Stations located directly under the influence erage of 15 days yr⫺1. In comparison with other regions
of the marine environment (e.g., JFK, ISP, and ACY) in the United States, Leipper (1994) indicated that 40–
and an inland station in the coastal plain of New Jersey 60 days yr⫺1 are characterized by heavy fog (visibility
(WRI) have among the highest number of fog hours, ⬍400 m) along the coast of California and Oregon,
days, and events. Coastal stations not located on the while Croft et al. (1997) reported 20–50 days of fog with
coastline of the Atlantic Ocean (PVD and BDR) also visibilities less than 800 m (1⁄2 mi.) for the coastal areas
experience considerable fog. Stations located in subur- of the Gulf of Mexico. Therefore, while not quite as
ban and rural inland areas (BDL, POU, ABE, and common as on the West Coast, fog occurrences in the
ILG) show numbers close to the regional averages. NYC region have frequencies comparable to those of
Another noteworthy feature is the contrast in fog the Gulf Coast. The results are also consistent with
occurrences between the nearby coastal stations of JFK those of Peace (1969), which show 20–30 days yr⫺1 of
and LGA, both of which are located in the urban core heavy fog for the region investigated in this study. How-
of NYC. JFK experiences twice as much fog as LGA. ever, the present results indicate a greater regional spa-
Both locations experience fog onset as mostly onshore tial variability when compared with Peace’s coarse
flow occurs (not shown). The difference in occurrences analysis.
may be related to the fact that JFK is located immedi-
ately downstream of the open Atlantic Ocean and thus 4. Fog types
under the direct influence of marine boundary layer air
a. Fog-type frequency
that has traveled long distances over the cold coastal
water. In contrast, LGA is located on the northern The fog-type classification algorithm described in
shore of Long Island and is surrounded by high-density Fig. 4 has been applied to every event at each station. A
urban neighborhoods, except for a narrow opening on total of 95% of all identified fog events were success-
the Long Island Sound. Thus, scenarios for which the fully classified into one of the five types considered.
station is directly influenced by the marine air are lim- Results indicate that fog formation in precipitation is
ited. the most common scenario in the area, with 11 of the 17
Light fog conditions are distributed in a manner cor- stations having their highest proportion of events in this
responding to 21–74 fog days yr⫺1 depending on the category, and the 6 remaining stations having precipi-
location within the region, with a regional average of 42 tation fog ranking as the second most likely type (Fig.
days yr⫺1 (Table 3). Dense fog conditions occurred on 7). The overall frequency corresponds to 36% of the
15–59 days yr⫺1 with an average of 34 days yr⫺1, while totality of events. The common occurrence of fog in
heavy fog was reported on 4–34 days yr⫺1 with an av- precipitation has also been reported by George (1940)
with a decreasing frequency along the east coast of the

United States. Fog formation related to surface evapo-
ration at sunrise is found to be a relatively minor com-
ponent in comparison with the other types, with fre-
quencies only up to 5% of all events.
The use of events as a basis for the identification of
fog types removes some isolated fog occurrences from
the analysis. Results reveal that isolated occurrences
are spatially distributed in a manner consistent with the
overall fog hours (shown in Table 2). Their monthly
distribution is statistically indistinguishable from the
one corresponding to the totality of fog hours at the
95% confidence level. However, a clustering of the iso-
lated fog reports occurs in the hour following sunrise,
which may suggest that the frequency of morning
evaporation fog could be underestimated. When the
FIG. 6. Average number of fog events per year identified from
surface observations taken over the 1977–96 period, for stations individual isolated fog reports that match the criteria
located in RI, CT, southern NY, NJ, eastern PA, and northern defining this fog type are included, frequencies increase
DE. to 0.5%–8.0%, depending on the location (Table 4).
Despite the increase in the number of events, the rank-
ing of this fog type with respect to others remains un-
for locations in the eastern and southern United States changed. Other isolated fog occurrences could not be
and in the midwestern part of the country by Westcott preferentially associated with other fog types, mostly
(2004). Its occurrence in the Piedmont of the Appala- because of missing data. Therefore, the relative fre-
chians is also mentioned by Willett (1944). Byers (1959) quency of fog types based on events can be considered
stated that warm-front precipitation fog in the north- representative of the fog’s character in the region.
eastern United States is among the most frequent in the
world because of the presence of polar air masses dur-
b. Fog density and duration of events
ing winter, which combine with the nearby marine
tropical air over the Gulf Stream to create important Parameters of interest in characterizing fog are its
temperature contrasts in the lower troposphere. Radia- intensity expressed as the reduction in visibility and the
tion fog is another important component of the overall duration of events. The distributions of event duration
climatological description with 28% of the events. This compiled over fog events at all stations and over the
fog type occurs most frequently in the suburban and period covering 1977–96 are shown for each fog type in
rural areas of the coastal plain of New Jersey, in the Fig. 8a. The nonparametric Kruskal–Wallis test (Helsel
valleys of the hilly areas of southern New York, eastern and Hirsch 1992) is used to test the null hypothesis that
Pennsylvania, and northern Connecticut, and in the all groups of data (event duration for the various fog
plain along the Delaware River. This is in agreement types) have identical distributions at the 95% signifi-
with statements found in Byers (1959) and with the cance level. This nonparametric test is used since the
study of Meyer and Lala (1990) characterizing a loca- requirement for normal distributions does not apply as
tion in the Hudson Valley. Fog related to the lowering for the Student’s t test. The test was performed on vari-
of cloud bases occurs throughout the region, with a ous combinations of groups with results indicating that
frequency of 19% of all events. Ten stations have this distributions can be considered statistically different at
type of fog ranking as, or close to, the second most the 95% confidence level, except when advection and
likely fog type. Advection fog is most often observed at cloud-base-lowering fogs are compared. Fog formation
locations under the direct influence of the marine en- in precipitation has a statistically significant tendency to
vironment, representing 9% of all of the events and last the longest, with about 50% of events lasting longer
17% when only coastal locations are considered. This is than 8 h and 25% longer than 12 h. A few events (5%)
in accord with Willett (1944) who pointed out the com- even lasted longer than 29 h. The occurrence of long-
mon occurrence of advection fog in a region extending lived precipitation events is an important influence on
from the northeast coast to the Newfoundland Grand the length of fog events. A good proportion of advec-
Banks. Petterssen (1969) also described the Grand tion fog events also tends to last a long time, with 25%
Banks advection fog maximum as extending westward of the events lasting longer than 10 h. Slow-moving
FIG. 7. (a) Frequencies of occurrence of fog types for sites outside of the immediate vicinity
of New York City. Frequencies calculated from fog events identified in the dataset between
1977 and 1996 inclusively. (b) Same as (a), but for locations within and in the vicinity of New
York City. Total frequencies are indicated in the legend.
TABLE 4. Frequency of morning evaporation fog events and

frequencies obtained when considering isolated fog observations
matching the criteria defining this type of fog, over the 1977–96
dataset.
Event frequency ⫹
Station Event isolated fog
code frequency (%) reports (%) Difference
ISP 1.1 1.8 ⫹0.7
JFK 0.3 0.5 ⫹0.2
EWR 2.2 2.9 ⫹0.7
LGA 0.0 1.6 ⫹1.6
TEB 1.5 2.9 ⫹1.4
HPN 1.9 2.6 ⫹0.7
BDR 0.0 3.0 ⫹3.0
POU 4.9 8.0 ⫹3.1
BDL 4.0 4.6 ⫹0.6
PVD 2.1 2.6 ⫹0.5
WRI 3.6 6.2 ⫹2.6
ILG 3.8 4.7 ⫹0.9
ACY 2.7 3.6 ⫹0.9
MIV 2.5 4.0 ⫹1.5
PHL 2.4 5.2 ⫹2.8
PNE 3.4 5.3 ⫹1.9
ABE 2.8 4.6 ⫹1.8
synoptic weather systems driving onshore flows with

long trajectories over the cold coastal waters are a fac-
tor. Radiation fog events do not last as long, with 75%
of the events lasting less than 8 h. As will be shown
during the next section, radiation fog onset tends to FIG. 8. Distributions of (a) fog event duration and (b) minimum
visibility during fog events, for each fog type. Distributions are
occur in the second half of the night, limiting the length compiled over all stations, over the 1977–96 period. Distributions
of its deepening phase. Heating from solar radiation are illustrated using box plots, defined using the 5th (lower whis-
can then quickly dissipate the fog after sunrise. Fog ker), 25th (lower edge of box), median (horizontal line within
events related to surface evaporation during the morn- box), 75th (upper edge of box), and 95th (upper whisker) percen-
ing transition of the surface layer are short lived, as tiles.
warming begins to dominate over moistening once the
surface water has evaporated.
morning evaporation fog events show a smaller propor-
The distributions of minimum visibility observed dur-
tion of events with minimum visibilities below 100 m.
ing fog events of each type have also been tested using
the Kruskal–Wallis test. The findings are that the dis-
c. Seasonal and diurnal variability of fog onset
tributions can be considered significantly different from
one another at a 95% confidence level. Results reveal The character of the various types of fog is further
similarities as well as differences between fog types illustrated by examining the temporal distributions of
(Fig. 8b). Four of the five types have 75% of the events fog onset frequencies for each fog type. Frequencies are
with minimum visibilities in the heavy fog category (be- calculated using Eqs. (1), (2), and (3) applied to events
low 400 m). Precipitation fog tends to be less dense of each type.
since one-half of the events are characterized by heavy Seasonal and diurnal distributions are shown in Fig.
fog conditions. Radiation fog leads to a greater propor- 9. Values of Fm,h are illustrated with a contour plot in
tion of heavy fog conditions with half of the events the center panel of each figure, while the hourly and
characterized by visibilities at or below 100 m, and 25% monthly frequencies are shown as histograms in the
of the events with visibilities reduced to zero. Advec- upper and right panels, respectively. The onset of pre-
tion fog also produces 25% of the events with obscured cipitation fog events is distributed throughout the day
conditions, but a smaller proportion of visibilities are with only a slight increase in the nighttime hours (Fig.
found in the 200-m range. Cloud-base lowering and 9a). Considerable seasonal variability is found, with the
FIG. 9. Frequency distributions of the onset of fog as a func-

tion of time of day and day of year for all stations considered.
(a) Precipitation (PCP), (b) radiation (RAD), (c) advection
(ADV), (d) cloud-base-lowering (CBL), and (e) morning
evaporation (EVP) fog events. Times of sunrise (dashed line)
and sunset (solid line) are indicated. The corresponding
monthly distribution of fog event frequencies is shown on the
right, and the frequency distribution with respect to the time of
day is shown in the top panel of the figure. The data cover the
1977–96 period. Note that the scale of the ordinate on the top
panel in (e) is different than in other figures.
FIG. 10. Monthly frequency distributions of the most common precipitation categories in the
New York City region: (a) light drizzle, (b) light rain, (c) rain, (d) light rain showers, (e) light
snow, and (f) snow.
maximum likelihood occurring during winter. A in November. The minimum frequency is found in win-
gradual decrease in frequency characterizes the spring ter and early spring (December–April). Radiation fog
and early summer period (March–June), with a mini- events tend to begin during the second half of the night.
mum in the distribution characterizing the midsummer This is clearly evident during August and September.
to early autumn period (July–September). A ramp up However, a larger proportion of events begins earlier in
in precipitation fog frequency occurs during October the night during the peak in October and during May
and November. This distribution shows some relation and November. These results exhibit similar character-
to the seasonal variability of light stratiform precipita- istics as those of Meyer and Lala (1990) for a location in
tion occurrences (Fig. 10) associated with the seasonal the Hudson Valley about 220 km north of NYC. These
peak in cyclonic activity in the northeastern United authors indicate that such a seasonal distribution is de-
States (Bell and Bosart 1989). This dependence on termined by a superposition of the cooling potential
large-scale factors also supports the finding that a (length of night) and moisture availability.
greater proportion of precipitation fog onset takes The monthly frequency of advection fog shows a bi-
place during the daylight hours relative to other fog modal distribution, with a marked peak during spring
types, because factors associated to the diurnal cycle of and early summer (April, May, and June) and a sec-
the boundary layer do not appear to be as dominant as ondary maximum in the autumn (October and Novem-
with other fog types (see below). ber) (Fig. 9c). Frequencies are minimized in winter
The temporal distribution of radiation fog indicates (December, January, and February) and during late
that events occur mostly in late summer (August) and summer and early autumn (August and September).
autumn (September and October) (Fig. 9b). Some The spring maximum corresponds to the period of the
events occur in late spring and summer (May–July) and year during which the offshore water temperature in-
the autumn, the maximum is in the middle part of the

night (between 0600 and 0800 UTC). During the day-
time, the inland propagation of a coastal fog layer is
determined by competing influences associated with so-
lar warming of the landmass. The differential heating
between the landmass and the ocean enhances the in-
land advection of sea fog through the generation of a
sea-breeze circulation. At the same time, the solar
warming over land leads to a dissipation of the fog by
the convectively driven mixing of warm, dry air with the
advancing marine layer. The result is often a marine fog
that remains stationary in the vicinity of the coast. With
decreasing solar radiation in the evening, the nighttime
land surface temperature cools with an associated re-
duction of the turbulent mixing as a stable layer estab-
lishes itself over land. A cooler and less turbulent
boundary layer allows an inland propagation of the fog
layer under the influence of an onshore push either
from the remnants of the sea breeze or from a synop-
tically driven circulation. This scenario is a plausible
explanation for the maximum frequencies of fog onset
at coastal land stations during the night.
The clear majority of fog events resulting from the
lowering of the cloud base begin during the nighttime
hours (Fig. 9d). The monthly distribution of this type of
event shows somewhat less variability than for the
other fog types. Nevertheless, an absolute maximum in
the monthly frequencies takes place in December, with
a secondary maximum observed during spring and early
summer (April–June). The minimum frequencies take
FIG. 11. Box plots illustrating the seasonal variability in the place during August and September. In examining the
monthly distributions of the (a) sea surface temperature and (b) distribution of Fm,h, it is found that the onset of cloud-
difference between the near-surface air temperature and the sea base-lowering fog is most likely to occur late during the
surface temperature (Tair ⫺ SST), at the 44025 buoy located south
of Long Island. Data were provided by the National Data Buoy
night from March to July, with fewer events beginning
Center. earlier in the night. In April and May, some events
begin just a few hours after sunset. During the peak in
December, fog onset is distributed more evenly
creases (Fig. 11a), but more importantly it is also the throughout the night. The reasons behind such behav-
period when near-surface air temperatures a few de- ior remain unclear without a more detailed investiga-
grees warmer than the sea surface temperature are ob- tion. However, similarities with advection and precipi-
served more frequently (Fig. 11b). This is the typical tation fog suggest that cooling of the boundary layer
scenario leading to sea (advection) fog defined by moist could be an important process leading to events in the
airstreams flowing over ocean surfaces, which are spring, while events in winter could be associated with
colder by a few degrees (Taylor 1917; Klein and Hart- large-scale weather systems.
mann 1993; Roach 1995b; Cho et al. 2000). Similar con- The monthly distribution of morning evaporation fog
ditions also characterize events during the autumn, but events shows a maximum likelihood during the period
occurrences of such temperature contrasts between the from August to October (Fig. 9e). This is very similar to
low-level air and the water surface are not as frequent. the distribution exhibited by radiation fog events. This
On a diurnal time scale, advection fog onset occurs suggests that these events tend to occur on mornings
mostly during nighttime hours. The maximum likeli- following nights on which conditions were such that
hood of fog onset during the spring is right after sunset, radiation fog did not form, likely under the influence of
complemented by significant frequencies throughout dew deposition. Studies have highlighted the role of
the rest of the night. During the secondary maximum in dew deposition in controlling the onset of radiation fog
observed, showing a tendency for dissipation to occur

1–4 h after sunrise. In fact, an examination of condi-
tions observed around the time of the termination of all
events reveals that 72% are characterized by a decrease
in relative humidity associated with increasing tempera-
tures within a few hours after sunrise, and that 20% are
characterized by a change to a drier air mass associated
with a shift in wind direction. As for onset, precipitation
fog is the type with the least dependence on the diurnal
cycle. This suggests a greater proportion of events end
because of influences other than solar heating, such as
a shift in the low-level flow advecting drier air from the
north as low pressure systems exit the region. This sce-
nario is similar to observations made by George (1940)
for Atlanta, Georgia, in the southeastern United States.
The typical scenario for the dissipation of cloud-base-
lowering and advection fogs is through the influence of
increasing solar radiation, although a good fraction of
events end during the night, likely under the influence
of changing low-level horizontal advection during
evolving synoptic conditions. The clear majority of ra-
diation fogs dissipate within 1–4 h of sunrise under the
influence of solar heating and increasing turbulent mix-
ing (commonly referred to as “burn off”). This is in
agreement with the results of Meyer and Lala (1990).
Consistent with the previous findings on fog duration,
the burn off of morning evaporation fog occurs only a
few hours after onset.
FIG. 12. (a) Monthly frequency distribution of all fog events and e. Regional variability in relation to fog types
(b) diurnal frequency of fog onset, regardless of the fog type.
In contrast to previous studies aiming to describe the
fog phenomenon at the continental scale (Peace 1969;
Hardwick 1973) or for a single location (Meyer and
(Lala et al. 1975; Brown and Roach 1976; Pickering and
Lala 1990), the present study resulted in the identifica-
Jiusto 1978; Bergot and Guédalia 1994). The water de-
tion of a considerable small-scale spatial variability in
posited on the surface during the night is readily avail-
fog character. Both common and contrasting features
able for evaporation once the incoming solar radiation
are found among coastal, inland, urban, and suburban
provides the necessary energy after sunrise. The related
or rural sites in terms of the relationship between fog
influx of water vapor and mixing in the surface layer
types and the seasonal distribution of fog (Fig. 14).
can lead to fog formation.
Overall, coastal sites experience precipitation, cloud-
The superposition of fog types leads to fog events
base lowering, and advection fog, while radiation fog is
being distributed throughout the year, with a slight ten-
more prevalent at inland suburban and rural sites
dency for May and October to have the highest fre-
rather than advection fog. This leads to distinct features
quencies and the period from July to September to
in the seasonal distribution of fog as suggested by re-
have the lowest (Fig. 12a). This is in overall agreement
sults shown earlier in section 4c. For example, the fog
with the analysis presented by Hardwick (1973). With
maximum during spring at coastal locations (JFK, ISP,
respect to the diurnal distribution of the time of fog
BDR, and LGA) is the result of a superposition of
onset, an overall tendency for fog to form during the
precipitation, cloud-base lowering, and advection fog.
second half of the night is clearly identified (Fig. 12b).
The maximum in autumn and winter at suburban and
rural inland locations (BDL, POU, ABE, PNE, and
d. Diurnal variability of fog dissipation
ILG) is dominated by radiation fog in the autumn and
The distribution of the timing of fog dissipation for is mostly composed of precipitation and cloud-base-
each fog type is shown in Fig. 13. A distinct pattern is lowering events during winter. The prevalence of radia-
FIG. 13. Frequency distributions of the dissipation of fog as a

function of time of day and yearday, for all stations considered,
for the various fog types: (a) precipitation (PCP), (b) cloud-base-
lowering (CBL), (c) radiation (RAD), (d) advection (ADV), and
(e) morning evaporation (EVP) fog.
FIG. 14. (a) Monthly frequency distribution of fog types identified at sites in the New York City region.
The monthly frequency of each fog type is represented by the height of bars with the corresponding color
(see legend). The overall frequency is represented by the sum of each fog type (total height of bars). (b)
Same as (a), but for locations within and in the general vicinity of the New York metropolitan area.
tion fog at POU is in accord with the findings of Meyer cated (Gedzelman et al. 2003), thus minimizing the like-
and Lala (1990) for Albany, New York, located 125 km lihood of radiation fog. Similar reasoning applies to the
to the north (also in the Hudson Valley). lack of radiation fog at JFK. Despite the moist envi-
The complexity of fog in the region is exacerbated by ronment resulting from the Atlantic Ocean, the effects
the fact that some sites exhibit contrasting characteris- of the UHI seem to dominate. The urban contrast is
tics. Events at coastal PVD occur most frequently in also present, but to a lesser extent at PHL. In contrast
October through the combined influences of radiation, to NYC, PHL has a maximum in October whereas
precipitation, and cloud-base-lowering events. Signifi- EWR and TEB have a local maximum in May, both
cant frequencies also characterize the winter and spring resulting from an enhanced frequency of radiation fog.
seasons with precipitation and cloud-base-lowering
events occurring most frequently, along with a contri-
5. Discussion
bution from advection and radiation fogs in spring.
Thus, in essence, this coastal site (next to Narragansett The shaping of the fog climatology through a super-
Bay) exhibits characteristics akin to both coastal and position of different fog types is in general agreement
inland fog regimes. with findings for other areas of the United States
Stations on the coastal plain of New Jersey (WRI, (George 1940; Byers 1959; Petterssen 1969; Croft et al.
MIV, and ACY) have a greater number of events dur- 1997; Baars et al. 2003) and the world (Bendix 2002;
ing the summer season, which translates into a weaker Cereceda et al. 2002). However, contrasts can be drawn
seasonal variability in the frequency of fog. This is the between the NYC region and other coastal areas of the
result of a greater number of radiation fog events dur- United States. The study of Croft et al. (1997) shows a
ing the warm season. Not surprisingly, the distribution distinct fog season from October to March for the coast
at ACY also shows a coastal signature with a maximum of the Gulf of Mexico, with radiation and advection
in middle to late spring resulting from an enhanced fogs being the dominant types. Baars et al. (2003)
likelihood of advection fog events. The monthly fre- present results for the heavily urbanized coastal area of
quency distribution for HPN shows a significant the Los Angeles, California, basin on the West Coast.
amount of fog events occurring during summer result- Advection fog was found to be the dominant type, with
ing from a greater number of radiation and precipita- advection–radiation fogs representing the only other
tion fog events than at nearby locations. significant type. This is complemented by a radiation
Considerable variability exists in the vicinity of urban fog regime in the central valley of California (Holets
centers. The number of events at urban NYC locations and Swanson 1981; Underwood et al. 2004). Very few
(EWR, TEB, and LGA) corresponds to 20%–50% of precipitation fog events were identified. This is in con-
those at surrounding locations. Despite this contrast in trast with the NYC region where precipitation fog is the
overall fog likelihood, frequencies of precipitation and most common type. Other accounts of common precipi-
cloud-base-lowering fogs are maximized during late au- tation fog were reported by George (1940) for locations
tumn, winter, and early spring within the urban core, in the southeastern United States, with generally only
which is the same as for the surrounding stations. Other one other distinct fog regime contributing significantly.
fog types exhibit a greater level of variability in the Therefore, the fog phenomenon in NYC’s region is
vicinity of the urban core. Radiation fog is observed at composed of a superposition of a greater variety of fog
EWR, TEB, ISP, and HPN, but is seldom encountered types than some other regions in the United States.
at JFK and LGA. The former stations are surrounded The classification of fog events was based on the role
by a landmass for the most part, which offers some of primary mechanisms leading to fog formation. How-
potential for nocturnal cooling. This is particularly the ever, the role of secondary mechanisms may be impor-
case at ISP and HPN, which are situated in suburban tant as well. The maximum in events at HPN has been
and rural areas, respectively. EWR and TEB are within shown to be associated with a considerable contribution
a more heavily urbanized area, but Newark Bay and the from precipitation fog. The low-level flows from the
wetlands surrounding the Hackensack River (patch of Long Island Sound at the onset of these events (Fig.
nonurban area between EWR and TEB in Fig. 1) rep- 15), in association with a topography characterized by
resent local sources of moisture, which may influence terrain sloping upward away from the coast, suggest
the frequency of radiation fog. LGA is surrounded by a that upslope flow may be a favorable secondary mecha-
landmass except for a narrow opening on the Long Is- nism for fog formation (Tjernström 1993). As also
land Sound to the northeast. The surrounding landmass pointed out by Willett (1944), supersaturation may be
is characterized by a high-density urban surface where produced by the adiabatic cooling of air that has been
the maximum of the urban heat island is typically lo- saturated from rainfall evaporation.
of ⫺0.65 g kg⫺1 took place during the 6 h prior to

sunrise in cases of morning evaporation fog events. This
value roughly equates the increase in moisture ob-
served at sunrise. Dew deposition during the night can
be considered an important secondary mechanism pre-
ceding morning evaporation fog.
6. Conclusions
The motivation for this study was the identification

of the general characters of fog in a complex coastal/
urban region of the northeastern United States. Fog
events were identified, and each was assigned a type
using a simple classification algorithm based on the pri-
mary mechanisms responsible for the initial formation
of fog. The character of each fog type was examined in
terms of intensity (severity of visibility reduction) and
duration as well as spatial and temporal variability. The
results show the following:
FIG. 15. Frequency of the wind direction observed at the onset 1) A greater variety of fog types occurs in the NYC
of fog events at HPN.
region relative to some other studied regions in
the United States. The fog phenomenon in the re-
Another noteworthy feature is the prevailing occur- gion is a superposition of precipitation, cloud-base-
rence of radiation fog during the warm season on the lowering, advection, and radiation fog, with some
coastal plain of New Jersey, and to some extent at HPN events of morning evaporation fog. Dominant fog
and POU. These events can be categorized as advec- types have been identified in various parts of the
tion–radiation fog, in which moist air previously ad- region, yet appreciable frequencies characterize sec-
vected from the ocean is brought to saturation through ondary and tertiary fog types. This represents a
radiative cooling over land (George 1951; Ryznar greater variety than that on the West and Gulf Coast
1977). During the months of June, July, and August, the regions of the United States, which is dominated by
temperature of the coastal waters is at its peak (Fig. 11). advection fogs along the coast and radiation fogs at
A prevailing breeze from the south and southwest dur- inland locations. Other fog types affect other parts
ing the afternoon preceding foggy nights (Fig. 16) sug- of the United States, but investigated sites are gen-
gests that advection of moist air from the warm ocean erally characterized by two types contributing sig-
under a sea-breeze circulation is responsible for keep- nificantly to the overall fog phenomenon.
ing the dewpoints high over the coastal plain of New 2) Considerable intraregional variability in fog types is
Jersey and the coastal areas of southern New York present in response to the complex physiographic
State. It is also suggested that the moist marine air may character of the region. Advection fog events occur
even reach POU. Despite the shorter nights in summer, at coastal sites and are tied to positive temperature
saturation of the humid air mass may still be attained differences between the near-surface air and the sea
under the influence of significant nighttime radiative surface itself. Such occurrences are maximized in
cooling in sandy soil regions. In such instances, the spring. Radiation events are not only confined to the
prior advection of moist air over land can be considered typical autumn season under the influence of cold-
an important secondary mechanism. air pooling at inland valley locations, but also occur
As pointed out in the previous section, morning in the coastal plain during the warm season as ad-
evaporation fog events tend to occur particularly at lo- vection–radiation events. Short-lived morning
cations prone to radiation fog. This suggests that nights evaporation fogs occur at locations prone to radia-
on which radiation fog did not quite form because of tion fog, following nights on which dew deposition
sufficient dehydration of the surface layer by the depo- contributed to limit the nocturnal formation of fog.
sition of dew may, in fact, lead to conditions conducive Urban effects are clearly identified through the
to morning evaporation fog. This is supported by the minimization of the total number of fog hours, fog
finding that an average change in the specific humidity days, and fog events at locations within and in the
FIG. 16. Frequency of wind direction at stations in (a) the coastal plain of New Jersey (ACY, MIV, and WRI), (b) HPN, and (c) POU,
as well as (d) the wind speed at all these stations observed during the afternoon preceding the occurrence of radiation fog during
summer.
immediate vicinity of NYC and to a lesser extent common throughout the region with a seasonal vari-
Philadelphia. The stations with minimum fog corre- ability influenced by the annual cycle of stratiform
spond to the urban areas of the highest nocturnal precipitation (maximum in winter).
temperatures shown by Gedzelman et al. (2003). 3) Fog types have characteristic duration and visibility
Other types are less susceptible to surface charac- reduction. Precipitation fog produces fewer heavy
teristics. Cloud-base-lowering fog occurs throughout fog conditions than the radiation of advection fog.
the region with enhanced frequencies in winter and In contrast, the average precipitation fog event last
spring, suggesting an association with synoptic-scale the longest, followed by cloud-base-lowering, advec-
weather systems in winter and with changing condition, radiation, and, finally, morning evaporation
tions within the stratus-topped marine boundary fog.
layer in spring. Precipitation fog events are the most 4) The dissipation of fog occurs mainly through the
burn-off process. While fog dissipation typically oc- Arya, P. A., 2001: Introduction to Micrometeorology. 2d ed. Aca-
curs a few hours after sunrise under the influence of demic Press, 415 pp.
Baars, J. A., M. Witiw, and A. Al-Habash, 2003: Determining fog
rising temperatures and decreasing relative humid-
type in the Los Angeles basin using historic surface observa-
ity (72% of the total number of events), some events tion data. Proc. 16th Conf. on Probability and Statistics in the
(20%), particularly of the precipitation type, end at Atmospheric Sciences, Long Beach, CA, Amer. Meteor. Soc.,
other times of the day under the influence of evolv- CD-ROM, J3.8.
ing synoptic weather conditions leading to a change Baker, R., J. Cramer, and J. Peters, 2002: Radiation fog: UPS
to a drier air mass. Airlines conceptual models and forecast methods. Proc. 10th
Conf. on Aviation, Range and Aerospace Meteorology, Port-
These results can serve as a basis for more detailed land, OR, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 154–159.
investigations of the various factors influencing the life Ballard, S. P., B. W. Golding, and R. N. B. Smith, 1991: Mesoscale
model experimental forecasts of the haar of northeast Scot-
cycle of fog in all of its forms. Classifying events into fog
land. Mon. Wea. Rev., 119, 2107–2123.
types sets the stage for a focused analysis of the envi- Bell, G. D., and L. F. Bosart, 1989: A 15-year climatology of
ronmental conditions (synoptic weather patterns, sur- Northern Hemisphere 500 mb closed cyclone and anticyclone
face layer evolution, tropospheric vertical structure, centers. Mon. Wea. Rev., 117, 2142–2163.
etc.) associated with individual fog types. This will be Bendix, J., 1994: Fog climatology of the Po Valley. Riv. Meteor.
the subject of future efforts. The accurate prediction of Aeronaut., 54 (3–4), 25–36.
fog continues to be an elusive goal. We offer that the ——, 2002: A satellite-based climatology of fog and low-level stra-
tus in Germany and adjacent areas. Atmos. Res., 64, 3–18.
most hopeful approach to the fog forecasting problem
Bergot, T., and D. Guédalia, 1994: Numerical forecasting of ra-
consists of gaining a greater understanding of the vari- diation fog. Part I: Numerical model and sensitivity tests.
ous mechanisms involved in its formation, mainte- Mon. Wea. Rev., 122, 1218–1230.
nance, and dissipation. The premise of our study is that Bornstein, R. D., 1968: Observations of the urban heat island ef-
information about important climatological parameters fect in New York City. J. Appl. Meteor., 7, 575–582.
can serve as basic guidance on the likelihood of fog Bott, A., 1991: On the influence of the physico-chemical proper-
ties of aerosols on the life cycle of radiation fogs. Bound.-
formation and that such information can be beneficial Layer Meteor., 56, 1–31.
to weather forecasters in their efforts to produce true Brown, R., and W. T. Roach, 1976: The physics of radiation fog,
forecasts rather than be forced to react once formation Part II: A numerical study. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 102,
has occurred. The development of statistical methods 335–354.
and improved numerical model parameterizations Brutsaert, W. H., 1982: Evaporation into the Atmosphere. D. Re-
idel, 299 pp.
based on a deeper understanding of the important
Byers, H. R., 1959: General Meteorology. McGraw-Hill, 481 pp.
physical processes should also lead to improved guid-
Cereceda, P., P. Osses, H. Larrain, M. Farías, M. Lagos, R. Pinto,
ance from the next-generation forecast systems. and R. J. Schemenauer, 2002: Advective, orographic and ra-
diation fog in the Tarapacá region, Chile. Atmos. Res., 64,
Acknowledgments. The authors thank Ben Bernstein 261–271.
of NCAR/RAL for providing an early version of the Cho, Y.-K., M.-O. Kim, and B.-C. Kim, 2000: Sea fog around the
software used to analyze the surface observations. Korean peninsula. J. Appl. Meteor., 39, 2473–2479.
Choularton, T. W., G. Fullarton, J. Latham, C. S. Mill, M. H.
Thanks are given to Wes Wilson of NCAR/RAL for
Smith, and I. M. Stromberg, 1981: A field study of radiation
pointing out the existence of the M-of-N concept in fog in Meppen, West Germany. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc.,
the statistical literature. Many thanks are given to Dr. 107, 381–394.
Thierry Bergot for his comments on an early version of Croft, P. J., 2003: Fog. Encyclopedia of Atmospheric Sciences,
the manuscript. The insightful comments of three J. R. Holton, J. A. Curry, and J. A. Pyle, Eds., Academic
anonymous reviewers contributed greatly to the im- Press, 777–792.
——, and A. N. Burton, 2006: Fog during the 2004–2005 winter
provement of the manuscript. This research is in re-
season in the northern mid-Atlantic states: Spatial character-
sponse to requirements and funding by the Federal istics and behaviors as a function of synoptic weather types.
Aviation Administration (FAA). The views expressed Proc. 12th Conf. on Aviation, Range and Aerospace Meteo-
are those of the author and do not necessarily represent rology, Atlanta, GA, Amer. Meteor. Soc., CD-ROM, P3.3.
the official policy or position of the FAA. ——, R. L. Pfost, J. M. Medlin, and G. A. Johnson, 1997: Fog
forecasting for the southern region: A conceptual model ap-
proach. Wea. Forecasting, 12, 545–556.
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VOLUME 46 JOURNAL OF APPLIED METEOROLOGY AND CLIMATOLOGY AUGUST 2007

(Manuscript received 6 March 2006, in final form 3 November 2006)

1. Introduction duce the number of weather delays by 20%–35%. On a

© 2007 American Meteorological Society 1141

Primary physical Definition/morphology

3) FREQUENCY COMPUTATION 3. General character of fog

FIG. 4. Flowchart diagram illustrating the fog-type classification algorithm.

Light fog h (days) Dense fog h (days) Heavy fog h (days)

with a decreasing frequency along the east coast of the

TABLE 4. Frequency of morning evaporation fog events and

synoptic weather systems driving onshore flows with

FIG. 9. Frequency distributions of the onset of fog as a func-

the autumn, the maximum is in the middle part of the

observed, showing a tendency for dissipation to occur

FIG. 13. Frequency distributions of the dissipation of fog as a

of ⫺0.65 g kg⫺1 took place during the 6 h prior to

The motivation for this study was the identification

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